Background

Transgender women (TW) are at disproportionate risk of acquiring HIV, but their participation in HIV treatment and prevention studies remains low. This manuscript aims to evaluate TW’s perspectives on study recruitment and retention to provide insights to researchers on designing a cohort study for this population.

Methods

Thirteen TW who were at least 18 years and living in Bangkok, Thailand, were recruited by purposive sampling in January 2017–February 2017. All participated in a focus group discussion, and five participated in the additional one-on-one in-depth interviews. Thematic analysis was performed from the interview transcripts to identify themes regarding cohort study recruitment and retention.

Results

The median (interquartile range, IQR) age of 25.8 (23.4–29.1) with 23.1% and 69.2% identified as females and TW, respectively, participated in the study. The analysis shows that TW highly value friendship, and maintaining a good relationship with the participants will improve recruitment and retention. Further, TW also suggested employing well-connected and respected TW influencers and community leaders to facilitate recruitment and retention, especially through online platforms. Other facilitators include having the opportunities to learn more about HIV and access to TW-friendly healthcare service, while the barriers are competing priorities and lack of a TW-centered approach.

Conclusion/Policy Implication

This study elucidates the existing barriers and facilitators to research participation for TW. The findings also underscore the importance of involving study participants in designing research to ensure that the study is acceptable and culturally appropriate for TW to participate.

中文翻译：

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跨性别女性对研究招募和保留的看法：来自泰国的主题分析

背景

变性妇女（TW）感染艾滋病毒的风险不成比例，但她们参与艾滋病毒治疗和预防研究的比例仍然很低。该手稿旨在评估TW关于研究招募和保留的观点，从而为研究人员在设计针对该人群的队列研究中提供见解。

方法

在2017年1月至2017年2月间，有针对性地抽取了13位至少18岁，居住在泰国曼谷的TW。所有TW都参加了焦点小组讨论，另外5位参加了额外的一对一深度访谈。 。从访谈记录中进行主题分析，以确定有关队列研究的招募和保留的主题。

结果

参与研究的中位年龄（四分位间距，IQR）为25.8（23.4-29.1）岁，分别为女性和TW，分别为23.1％和69.2％。分析表明，TW高度重视友谊，与参与者保持良好的关系将改善招聘和保留。此外，TW还建议聘用关系密切且受人尊敬的TW影响者和社区领袖，以促进招聘和留任，特别是通过在线平台。其他促进者包括有机会更多地了解艾滋病毒和获得对TW友好的医疗服务的机会，而障碍是相互竞争的优先事项，并且缺乏以TW为中心的方法。

结论/政策含义

这项研究阐明了TW参与研究的现有障碍和促进者。调查结果还强调了让研究参与者参与设计研究的重要性，以确保研究可以被TW接受并在文化上适合TW参与。